¡Amigos!
"¡Amigos!" is the third episode of Arrested Development's second season. Michael is increasingly frustrated over being abandoned by the family, and when the staircar is found in Mexico, Michael vows to find his father and give him a piece of his mind. Also, Buster spends time with Lupe's family and thinks he's in Mexico. Synopsis The Hunt for George Sr. Michael gives some fiscal reports to G.O.B. who is still acting as president to appease the stockholders. Michael jokes that G.O.B. doesn't have any friends, a comment that makes G.O.B. scoff. In his office - a supply closet - Michael is approached by Lucille who informs him that her private eye Gene Parmesan has found where George Sr. has been hiding. Gene surprises them in the room and tells them George Sr. is in Mexico. Michael decides to head down with his son to find him. G.O.B. jealously thinks Michael is trying to flee the failing company so he hires a bounty hunter named Ice to follow him. On George Michael's request, Michael attempts to get to know Ann better as they drive to Mexico but ends up talking to Lindsay the whole way there. In Mexico they give up and hire Ice to track George Sr. instead. Michael drives the stair car home with Maeby while Lindsay and George Michael take George Sr.'s car, leaving Ann in Mexico. They race back once they realize their mistake. G.O.B. follows Michael to Mexico and tackles him about his "plans" to flee the company. Gene, who has been paid by Lucille to track G.O.B., tackles G.O.B. for fleeing the country. Ice then tackles Michael, who he believes to really know where George Sr. is. Michael pays Ice, G.O.B., and Gene to find George Sr. together and drives back to California with George Michael and Ann. After spending three hours in the car with her, Michael doesn't hesitate to tell G.O.B. that he doesn't like Ann. An Open Relationship Lindsay and Tobias continue their "open relationship" experiment. Lindsay takes an interest in Ice and thinks he is following her as she assists Michael in his search for their father. When she finds out he's just a bounty hunter, she fools him into thinking she knows where his target it. He follows her back to the model house where he tackles Tobias, who is wearing Blue Man Group makeup. He finds out she is married and she finds out he has absolutely no interest in her. Buster's Heroic Escape Buster has been ordered by Army to go to Iraq and decides to go in protest of his mother's relationship with Oscar. Lucille throws a party to spite him but he decides to sneak in Michael 's trunk to Mexico. He gets out at Lupe's house, thinking it is Mexico. He is surprised that they own so many things he used to own but has no idea they were originally his possessions, given away by his mother. He adapts to "Mexican" life and goes to work with Lupe's brothers. They work at Balboa Towers and he ends up serving lunch to a horny Lucille and Oscar. Appearances * Martin Mull as Gene Parmesan * Malik Yoba as Ice * Mo Collins as Starla * Mae Whitman as Ann Veal * Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez * B.W. Gonzalez as Lupe * Justin Lee as Annyong * Jamie Kaler as Fireman * Alejandro Patino as Mexican man #1 * Joseph A. Nunez as Lupe's brother * Eli Vargas as Mexican teenager Recurring Themes References *''Friends'' - This episode continues the titular references to Friends used in the first two episodes of the season, as "amigos" is Spanish for "friends." It also refers to the fact that G.O.B. is searching for a friend, how quite a bit of the episode takes place in Mexico, and the storyline of Buster making friends with Lupe's family. *'Abu Ghraib' - Lucille talks about Buster being in a "naked pyramid," a reference to the photos taken in the Iraqi prison. *'Blue Man Group' - Tobias continues to color himself blue for a chance to work with the performance group. The Blue Man Group's performances start at 8:00pm, and Tobias paints himself blue and counts down to 8:01pm on his watch every night just in case they need him as an understudy. *''Star Wars'' - After Oscar goes back to unload his items, Lucille gives Annyong money and tells him to "go see a Star War." Callbacks/Running Jokes *'Banner' - The first of many of the Bluth family's suggestive banners, which says "You're killing me, Buster" can be seen at Buster's party. This banner later appears again in "Hand to God". *'"Blue myself"' - Tobias mentions that he "blue himself early so he'd be nice and relaxed for a 9:00pm dinner reservation." Tobias first used the term "blue myself" in "The One Where Michael Leaves". *'Buster's real father' - Oscar hints that he is Buster's father, saying that Lucille is not having an affair with Buster's "uncle." Overly dramatic music plays after this is said. *'Charlie Brown' - Lucille and Buster refer to testicles as "Charlie Browns." Buster first did this in The One Where They Build a House". He later refers to Michael's penis as his "Linus" in "Out on a Limb". *'Chicken Dance' – G.O.B. does his chicken dance for the first time since the season one episode "Staff Infection", and it's revealed in this episode that, in Mexican culture, the chicken dance is considered an offensive gesture. *'Circumvent' - This is the first instance where G.O.B. fails to pronounce the word "circumvent" properly. This later becomes a running gag, and eventually spreads to other words too. *'Come on!' - Gene Parmesan remarks "Come on!" after counting his money. "Come on!" becomes a recurring phrase later in "Afternoon Delight". *'Her?' - This episode continues the running gag of jokes made at the expense of George Michael's girlfriend, Ann. **When George Michael mentions wanting to spend time with Ann, Michael has no idea who he is talking about. **When George Michael calls Ann his girlfriend, Michael replies, "Her?" **Michael calls George-Michael an "Ann-hog," in reference to him spending all his time with his girlfriend. This nickname transfers to Ann herself and is mentioned multiple times in the episode. **Lindsay says to Michael "Check out who's on that hog in the rearview mirror," referring to Ice on his motorcycle. Michael screams out "George Michael!" believing the hog Lindsay was talking about was Ann. **After Michael and Maeby's talk in the stair car, the narrator mentions how "there were only four people in their group," implying that the narrator forgot about Ann (there were five in their group). **After returning to Mexico to find Ann, Michael still doesn't recognize her. **Michael refers to Ann as "Plant" after George Michael says "Way to plant, Ann!" **When G.O.B. learns that about Ann is George-Michael's girlfriend, G.O.B. asks, "What, is she funny or something?" *'Incest' - Short mention is made of George Michael's feelings for his cousin, and the general theme of incest. **When Maeby asks, "Why do people have to date anyways?" Michael responds, "Isn't family enough for people?" which could be construed as Michael condoning incest. **After Michael tells George-Michael that his cousin (Maeby) is "one hell of a girl" and "it's too bad you can't date her," George-Michael does a double take and asks Michael if he "would have a problem with that," and then tries to cover it up. *'"It'll be an adventure"' - Michael promises George Michael they'll have one looking for George Sr. in Mexico. He promises this again to him later in "Hand to God". *'"Don't be Afraid to Make a Mistake"' - G.O.B.'s inspirational poster is in response to his denial of making mistakes in "The One Where Michael Leaves". *'Labeling' - G.O.B.'s laptop bears his name, in similarity to his Segway. *'Legoland' - Michael states that he is going to buy tickets to Legoland for him and his son; in season 3, Lucille tells Uncle Trevor that she thought she heard Michael saying he was taking Rita to Legoland. *'Michael the murderer' - Michael's comment about putting people in the trunk and Lupe's facial expression is a reference to the misunderstanding in "Charity Drive". *'Stair car' - Mexicans use the stair car to jump over the border, just like the prisoner tried to use the stair car to jump the prison fence in "Visiting Ours". *'Tracy' - Another joke is made at the expense of Michael's dead wife Tracy, again proving how insensitive the Bluths are. *'"Who wants to go to the hospital?"' - Tobias is again injured when Ice tackles him. *'Yawning' - While Buster prepares a videotape telling Lucille of his escape to Mexico, he begins to yawn in the middle of his sentence. This is a reference to the Season One episode "Bringing Up Buster", in which Buster often did the same thing. *'Ice's music' - Every time Ice is seen, a dark, shadowy sound plays. *'Tackling '- Multiple characters are tackled in this episode. **Ice tackles Michael in Mexico. **Ice tackles Tobias at the model home. **G.O.B. tackles Michael in Mexico, followed by Gene tackling G.O.B., followed by Ice tackling Michael. Hidden/Background Jokes *'Blue paint' - Blue hand-prints can be seen in various places in the model home. **When Ice tackles Tobias we see a long smear of blue paint on the floor, and a section of Tobias' face has no blue paint, indicating his face was rubbed along the floor for a couple feet. *'Cloudmir' - A Cloudmir sign is seen in Mexico. *'Maeby' - Lindsay comments that she has "sensed Maeby feeling a little left out lately", in reference to the small role Maeby played in the first two episodes of the season. *'Mentally challenged' - Lupe's Spanish name for Buster is "retardo". *'Poster' - Three posters are seen, two of which are ironic. **'"Keep An Open Mind"' - The poster is in the background when Michael is talking to Ann on the phone. It takes on an ironic meaning when Michael tells G.O.B. that he doesn't like her. **'"Never Give Up"' - A poster that says "Never Give Up" falls down, to which G.O.B. says, "F--k it. Just leave it where it is." *'Quincy Jones' - Starla is wearing a "Q" necklace, in reference to her love of Quincy Jones (it should be noted that Quincy Jones is one of the producers of the FOX sketch show MADtv and the actress who plays Starla is Mo Collins, who was a cast member on the show from 1998 to 2004). *'Spanish translations' - There are three instances of Spanish sentences being translated into English: **In the silent film-style flashback of how the chicken dance came to be offensive in Mexico, there's a title card that reads, "Usted baila como un hombre que vive como mujer," which translates to "You dance like a homosexual" (literally, it means, "You dance like a man who lives like a woman"). **When Lupe finds Buster on her front lawn, she remarks "Ahora tengo que cuidar para retardo", which the subtitle translates to, "So now I must take care of Buster" but actually means "Now I have to take care of retard." **The Cloudmir sign in Mexico is in broken Spanish, reading "La feliz beber: hay Cloudmir si tienes sed" (translated, it means, "The happy drink: There's Cloudmir if you're thirsty.") *'The Cornballer' - The Cornballer, the Cornballer box, and a box of Cornballer mix can be seen in Michael's office. **A Cornballer advertisement can be seen in Mexico. Foreshadowing *'Blue Man Group' - The blue picture of George Sr. foreshadows him joining the Blue Man Group in "Righteous Brothers". *'Buster's hand' - *Upon seeing his former "hand chair," Buster comments, "I'd never thought I'd miss a hand so much." He then touches the chair with the hand he later loses in "Out on a Limb". *''Scandalmakers'' - Ice mistakes Tobias for George Sr., foreshadowing when Tobias plays his father-in-law in the television show. Quotes Notes *This episode is titled "¡Amigos!" on the Season 2 DVD, though no press releases listed the exclamation marks in the title when the episode was broadcast. *This is the first episode where the Bluths visit a different country, which later happens again in "Exit Strategy". *As in the previous episode, Tobias is painted blue in every scene in which he is present. *This is George Sr.'s smallest role in an episode to date, with just one, brief non-speaking appearance. *The angered Mexican, the chicken-dancer and the piano player who ends up getting shot in the black-and-white video are played by Jason Bateman (Michael), Will Arnett (G.O.B.), and Tony Hale (Buster), respectively. Goofs *Kitty, as in the previous episode, has lost her lopsided breast implants. 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